Audrey Tang on what we can learn from Taiwan’s experiments with how to do democracy

Abstract

Democratic reforms in Taiwan since 2014 have led to innovative experiments in digital governance and civic participation. After student protests successfully prevented a trade agreement with China from being rushed through parliament, the government embraced radical transparency and citizen involvement in policymaking. Key innovations include: the Polis platform for finding consensus across different viewpoints; quadratic voting to allocate resources more fairly; and allowing citizens to build alternative government websites that can replace official ones if they prove more effective. The government publishes most non-sensitive data through APIs, enabling civic technologists to create improved public services. Rather than fighting disinformation through censorship, Taiwan mobilizes volunteers to create viral “humor over rumor” content. These approaches have helped maintain public trust while increasing the administration’s responsiveness to citizens. The reforms reflect a “conservative anarchist” philosophy that seeks to preserve traditions while maximizing voluntary association and minimizing coercion. While the long-term impact remains to be seen, Taiwan’s experiments offer potential lessons for improving democratic deliberation and government-citizen collaboration globally. - AI-generated abstract